Sharks Lose 4-2 to Flames, Reimer Injured

Calgary Flames left wing Milan Lucic (17) chases down the puck as the San Jose Sharks defenseman Erik Karlsson (65) is in pursuit at the SAP Center in San Jose on Apr 7, 2022 (AP News photo)

By Mary Walsh

SAN JOSE– The San Jose Sharks lost to the Calgary Flames for the first time this season, by a score of 4-2 at SAP Center. It was the Sharks’ fifth loss in a row. For Calgary, the win was the capstone for a California sweep after they won in Los Angeles and Anaheim. Matthew Tkachuk, Trevor Lewis, and Elias Lindholm scored for the Flames. Dan Vladar made 31 saves for the win. Nick Bonino and Logan Couture scored for the Sharks. James Reimer made 32 saves before being injured in the third period. Kaapo Kahkonen made five saves in relief.

After the game, Sharks Head Coach Bob Boughner said:

“Our execution could be better. From a compete standpoint, and for being in games with some of the top teams, you know, we’re banging heads with them. I think that I always come back to the same thing: it’s tough to win games when you’re only scoring one and two. I know I sound like a broken record.”

The Flames took the lead at 7:19 of the first period. Matthew Tkachuk stole a puck at the Sharks blue line. He didn’t break stride as he skated at the Sharks net and shot the puck over Reimer’s shoulder.

The Sharks tied it with a goal off Nick Bonino’s skate at 14:29. Assists went to Jaycob Megna and Matt Nieto.

Trevor Lewis made it 2-1 for Calgary at 19:05, carrying the puck into the zone and all the way to the net to jam it past Reimer’s pad. Assists went to Rasmus Andersson and Noah Hanifin.

Elias Lindholm made it 3-1 at 13:28 of the second period. Tkachuk carried the puck across the line and then dropped it to a trailing Lindholm. Lindholm’s shot went between two defenders and over Reimer’s glove. Assists went to Tkachuk and Johnny Gaudreau.

The Sharks got the first six shots of the third period and were rewarded. Logan Couture cut the lead down with a power play goal at 5:24. Timo Meier sent the puck at the net from just above the goal line. Couture was at the net and the puck went off his leg and in. Assists went to Meier and Mario Ferraro.

James was injured midway through the third period after a collision with Couture who had tripped over Blake Coleman’s skate right in front of the net. Couture’s leg slid right into Reimer’s neck and head. There were no updates after the game about his injury.

The Sharks pulled Kahkonen with a little under 90 seconds left but lost control of the puck with 32 seconds left. The Flames went the other way and Lindholm scored into the empty net.

The Sharks power play had three opportunities and got three shots on net. Their penalty kill gave up seven shots to three Calgary power plays and had one short-handed shot. In the face-off circle, the Sharks won 48% of the draws. The Sharks blocked ten shots, Calgary blocked 20. Neither John Leonard nor Jonah Gadjovich, who both left the game Tuesday, were in the lineup.

The Sharks’ next game is on Saturday in Vancouver against the Canucks at 7:00 PM PT.

Sharks Win 4-3 Against Flames in Calgary; Couture and Barbanov score key goals

San Jose Sharks’ Alexander Barabanov, center, celebrates his goal against the Calgary Flames with Timo Meier, left, and Tomas Hertl at the Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary on Tue Mar 22, 2022 (Photo by The Canadian Press via AP)

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks defeated the Calgary Flames 4-3 Tuesday in Calgary. The Sharks are 3-0 against the Flames this season. Marc-Edouard Vlasic, Timo Meier, Alexander Barabanov and Logan Couture scored for the Sharks. James Reimer made 28 saves for the win. Johnny Gaudreau, Dillon Dube, and Mikael Backlund scored for the Flames, Jacob Markstrom made 34 saves in the loss.

After the game, Sharks Head Coach Bob Boughner said:

“As the game went on we got a couple bounces and I think it gave us a little bit of energy. I thought the guys played hard for each other. I thought that we had some energy out of the Gadjovich Viel line. Every time they were one the ice. It took us a while to get going but once we did I thought we played a pretty responsible game. That’s a great team offensively obviously and [Reimer] came up huge at the end with some stops.”

He observed that the circumstances of the game were noteworthy: “Coming into this building after the trade deadline, having guys injured and out of the lineup, Nieto and [Dahlen] and guys like that and some young guys in pretty big roles tonight, I thought it was a great team effort.”

Johnny Gaudreau started the scoring at 4:17 with a power play goal. He stopped the puck with his skate and lifted the puck into the top corner. Assists went to Matthew Tkachuk and Elias Lindholm.

Dillon Dube made it 2-0 at 8:16. Tkachuk kept the puck in and sent it back to the slot where Dube was ready to take a quick shot.

Marc-Edouard Vlasic got the Sharks on the board at 14:54 with shot from the point. He had just kept the puck in and threw it on net. It snuck by Markstrom on the blocker side.

The Sharks had two penalties to kill in the first. They gave up the one goal and allowed two shots. They had one power play that got three shots on goal. The shot count for the period was 14-9 Sharks.

Mikael Backlund scored at 4:08 of the second period, restoring Calgary’s two-goal lead. Johnny Gaudreau took advantage of a neutral zone turnover and carried the puck in two-on-one with Backlund. Gaudreau made the pass across the slot and Backlund took a backhand shot close in to the net.

Gaudreau was awarded a penalty shot at 14:59 after Brent Burns slashed him. Reimer caught the shot in his glove.

Timo Meier trimmed the Flames lead back to one at 17:30. Burns took a shot from above the circle that it a defenseman. The rebound went out to Timo Meier just above the goal line by the boards. His bad angle shot found its way into the net. Assists went to Burns and Alexander Barabanov.

The Flames outshot the Sharks in the second period 12-10. The Sharks had the only power play in the period and got five shots on goal.

Barabanov tied the game at 11:07 of the third, after Tomas Hertl lifted the puck between defenders from behind the net to make a pass to Barabanov. Barabanov was right in front of the blue paint and he lifted it over the goaltender for his tenth goal of the season.

Logan Couture gave the Sharks the lead less than 30 seconds later. Noah Gregor carried the puck to the et and took a shot. Markstrom stopped that but the rebound went to Couture who as following Gregor. Couture’s shot trickled under the goalie for Couture’s 21^st of the season. Assists went to Gregor and Sasha Chmelevski.

Calgary pulled their goaltender with about 90 seconds left but the Sharks held them off. The final shot count was 38-31 Sharks but the Sharks only won 46% of the face-offs.

In the final minutes of the game, Timo Meier left the ice with a lower body injury.

The Sharks next play on Thursday in Edmonton against the Oilers at 6:00 PM PT.